Janesville, Wisconsin – Any service truck lover in Wisconsin looking to have a piece of history in their garage now has the opportunity. The big, yellow, GMC dump truck made in the Janesville assembly facility in 2002 is now up for auction.
The truck was the last vehicle made off the assembly floor before GMC shut down its Janesville medium-line duty line. Now, after 19 years of service of snowplowing, the iconic vehicle is being retired from service and set to hit the auction block this June.
While normally the city takes bids statewide for retired vehicles, local area residents in the Janesville community have the first crack at buying the vehicle. The city is soliciting bids for the GMC truck from those in Janesville only, from June 1st to June 6th.
“The goal is to maybe limit the exposure a little bit, so potentially it ends up in the hands of somebody local who has some local connection to GM, maybe somebody who wants to feature it at local car shows or keep it as kind of a part of local history,” said Maggie Darr, City Operations Director.
The dump truck has tangible features with a connection to many of the workers. On the underside of the vehicle’s hood are written the names of the workers on the Janesville Assembly line on June 26th, 2002, the day the truck was completed. Michael Kobelt, a former GM worker, remembers signing his name and the sound of the engine starting on the first turn of the key.
“You always took it as a good omen when that happened,” Kobelt said.
The big GMC is the last of its breed, and the fortunate buyer will forever have a piece of Janesville history with them.